Titchmarsh is known for many good things. We live in a very friendly place with a great sense of community and we like getting involved. We’re also quite an arty bunch. Scratch the surface and there are artists all over the village. There’s Lucy Milner, Angie Snelling and Anne Carter to name just three – and they’re not alone.

Of course we cannot mention art and Titchmarsh in the same sentence without a word of two about Norma Gregory. Norma is a multi-award winning artist and the closest thing our village may ever get to artistic royalty. That was until a few short weeks ago when Norma packed up her easel and set off for pastures new in the Lake District. There is a saying, however, that as one door closes so another door opens. In this particular case, that door leads straight to Norma’s old home.

Kay and David Sandell have just moved in – and guess what?!

David Sandell is also an award winning artist in both pencil and oils. Although he doesn’t consider his work mainstream and accepts he is probably still more illustrator than artist, he has been recognised with various awards; in 2014 he was shortlisted for ‘Artist of the Year’ by Artist & Illustrator magazine (Mall Galleries, London); voted Top 100 Artists/Illustrators 2014 by ‘Creative Quarterly’ USA and ‘International Artist’ magazine published a major 8 page feature on his work in 2010 and again in 2020. He has been selected for Strokes of Genius six times, celebrating the best of drawing and features in various international art publications.

David and Kay got to know Norma very well during the purchase of their new home. Norma and David clearly had a lot in common and both felt we had made a friend from the start. She then asked if David would take over her Saturday art class which meets at the Pavilion once a month – in addition to running a Wednesday botanical workshop, usually the third Wednesday of the month. David’s aim is to get to know her students over time and continue Norma’s legacy, in addition to maintaining his own work schedule once he and Kay have settled in.

You can find out more about David at his website. In the meantime, a few examples of his work can be seen on this page.